What You Can Learn From Japanese Minimalism

The folding screens, Pine Trees, painted between 1539–1610 by Tohaku Hasegawa is considered a national treasure of Japan. In contrast to the grandeur styles and trends of the late 16th century, works like Pine Trees and other modes of rustic simplistic art practices such as the tea ceremony made its own resistance against the decadence of the time. This appreciation of the rustic, of impermanence, of non gold painted pieces can be seen in Pine Trees. Although some of Hasegawa’s other work features more elaborate tastes, Pine Trees is made up of simple, quick brushstrokes to create space, layers, and light. According to an interpretation by the Tokyo National Museum, the painting more or less captures a quintessential Japanese ink painting due to its innate simplicity, the lack of gold, and the use of ink as the sole aesthetic to create depth.

Enjoy more of Hagesawa’s works at Hasegawa Tohaku: The Timeless Giant of Japanese Art.